Artificial tooth



Dec.- 19, 1922. R. A. DEROME.

ARTIFICIAL TooTH. FILED MAR. 23. 1822.

RAPHAEL A. DE ROME, OF CHICAGO," ILLINOIS.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH.

Application filed. March 23, 1922. Serial No. 546,212.

To all, whom it may concern. I

Be itknown that I, RAPHAEL A. DE ROME, a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, Cook County, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Teeth, of which the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description. p v

This invention relates to artificial teeth and its principal object is to provide a novel, simple and efficient bicuspid and molar tooth for use in dental crown work. and bridge.

work. Another object is to provide an artificialtooth structure comprising a porcelain facing or cusp and a backing arranged to be secured together by novel means and both parts being readily interchangeable, whereby in case a facing or cusp becomes broken, it may be readily replaced by. a' Whole one. This invention has particular reference to bicuspids and molars and it hasbeen designed for especial use in connection with.

facings constructed .of porcelain or similar material. The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed. I

The invention is clearly illustrated in the drawing accompanying this specification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an artificial tooth embodying a simple form of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a rear View of the facing alone; Fig. 4 is an end view of-the tooth, looking in the direction of the arrow a in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 isa vertical cross-section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2; F ig. 6 is a plan, illustrating a blank from which one form of a backing is made, and Fig. 7 is a. vertical cross-section taken through ;a backing con structed from the blank illustratedin Fig. 6.

Referring to said drawing, the reference character 10 designates the facing or cusp and 11 the backing of an artificial tooth structure,constructed in accordance with the present-invention and secured together as hereinafter-described. The tooth illustrated is one of the molar teeth but the intentiorrisequallyapplicable toa bicuspid tooth.

On'its lingual side, the facing 10 is'forme'd with two flat,-angularly disposed-r intersecting faces 12, l3,'which form'an obtuseangle, one face 12 extending from its place of-intersection with the face 13',"to the gingival end of the tooth and, the face 13 extendin from its place of intersection with the face i 12 to'the lingual side of the cusp 14. At the intersecting point'between the two faces 12, 18, a recess or groove 15Yis formed, which provides a continuation of the face 13 past the intersection of the two faces 12, 18. Extendlng back from the face 13, at a place ad v jacent the groove 15 is a flat, narrow recess or socket 16, the open end of which is parallel with the groove 15 and said recess or socket extends in an oblique or diagonal plane toward the .buccal side of the cuspli,

thereby leavingan acute angle between the part 17 of the face 13 and the recess 16. The side walls of the. "recess are preferably flat and parallel. a 1 Y The backing 11 is preferably formed of goldor precious metal and is in the form of a plate or sheet 18 one face 18 of which is flat and lies contiguous with the face 13 of 1' I the facing 10. Que edgeportionofthe plate or. sheet 18 projects into the groove 15. and

seats therein and its other marginal portions I are bent aroundthesides of the cusp portion of the facing to form a flange 19. Projecting from theface 18 of the backing 11 is an inclined tongue or lug 20, which fits in and is seated and secured nrthe recess or socket 16. The facing 10 and backingil are secured together, when finally assembled, by

cement, as is well understood.

The flanged marginal portions 19 be made considerably thinner than the portion adjacent the tongue and the edge portion which enters thegroove, which permits said thinner marginal portions-to be lmrnished against-the sides of the tooth facing so as to obtain a close fit between the flange and facing- While the backing and its ton 'ue mav be y i, ("3 formed n various ways. 21. tODVQlllQIltlillll effective form is obtained by providing a blank such as is seen in Fig. ('3. the body portion of which is slightly larger than the face 13 of the facing, so as to leave a considerable margin prO ecting beyond t 1e facing.- This inarglnoredge portion canbe readily trimmed to correspond to the shape and size ofthe face 13. Projecting back from'the straightside 1S" ofthe body portion 181s an elongated tongueportion 20.

verseslot 18 is fdrmed in the body portion,

A tra ns- 1 and the marginal portion may be slitted, as 7 shown, to facilitate the work of bending up and; burnishing-- the marginal portions against the facing. To form the backing,

the backing blank is folded along a line 18 which is parallel with and adjacent the straight edge 18" and the tongue 20 is folded along the lines, 20 20 which provides the tongue proper 20, and said tongue is thrust through the slot 18. The body portion and the part 2-0 of the tongue portion and edge portion 18 are folded tightly together and secured together by solder or otherwise. The tongue is bent to stand at the proper angle to the body portion and the marginal portions (which are to be bent up) are rolled down hammered down to thin them out toward their edges. Doubling the tongue portion upon itself and upon the body portion doubles the thickness of the material at the places where strength is required, leaving the outer portions free to be thinned down atthe margins where thinness of material is required.

From the above, it is obvious that only a few standard sizes of backings are required to accommodate bicuspid and molar teeth, and that by trimming off the edges of the backings, they may be made to accommodate the various sizes and'shapes of bicuspid and molar teeth. This dispenses with the necessity of keeping a great variety of sizes and shapes in stock, and dispenses with the necessity of providing a great many tools and dies for blanking out a great multiplicity of sizes and shapes.

By the term facing is meant the porcelain portion of a bicuspid or molar artificial tooth which embraces the buccal and occlusal sides of the tooth structure.

More or less variation of the exact details of construction of this invention is possible without departing from the spirit of this invention; I desire, therefore, not to limit my self to the exact form of the construction shown and described, but intend in the following claims to point out all of the invention disclosed herein.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An artificial tooth structure, comprising a facing and a metal backing, the facing being formed with two flat angularly disposed, intersecting faces on its lingual side, one face of which extends in a planeslightly inclined with respect to the occlusal side of the facing, there being a recess extending back from said last mentioned face, and there being a recess in said facing at the place of intersection between said faces dis posed at an angle with respect to said first mentioned recess, and said backing being arranged to lie against said last mentioned face and having angularly disposed portions entering both of said recesses and acting to prevent accidental disconnection between the facing and backing.

i tion thereof; 2, An artificial tooth structure, compris ing a facing and a metal backing, the facing being formed with two flat angularly disposed, intersecting faces on its lingual side, one face of which extends in a plane slightly inclined with respect to the occlusal side of the facing, there being a recess extending back from said last mentioned face, and there being a recessin said facing at the place of intersection between said faces disposed at an angle with respect to said first mentioned recess, and said backing being arranged to lie against said last mentioned face andhaving a tongue arranged to enter said first mentioned recess, and an edge portion arranged to'snap into said second named recess,"whereby the facing and backing are prevented from accidental disconnection.

3. An artificial tooth structure, comprising a facing and a metal b acking,*the facing being formed with two fiatangnlztrly disposed, intersecting faces on 1ts lingual side, one face of which extends transversely of the facing, there being a recess in the body of the facing extending back from said transverse face, and a transverse groove at the end of said'transverse face which intersects with the other face, and said backing being arranged to lie against said transverse face with oneend'p0rtion seated insaid groove, and hi ving a tongue extending into said recess in the facing.

4. An artificial tooth structure, comprising a facing and a metal backing, the facing being-formed with two flat angularly disposed, intersecting faces on its lingual side, one face of whichextends transversely ofthe facing, there being a recess in the body of the facing extending back from said transverseface, and a transverse groove at the end of said transverse face which intersects with the other face, and saidbacking being arranged to lie against said transverse face with one end portion seated insaid groove, and having atong'ue extending into said recess in the facing, the exposed marginal portion of the backing being burnished around the adjacent sides of the tooth.

5. An artificial tooth structure, comprising a facing and a metal backing, the facing being formed with two flat angularly disposed, intersectingfaces on its lingual side. one'face of which extends transversely of thefacing, there being a recess in theibody of the facing extending back from said transverse face, and a transverse groove at the end of said transverse face which intersects with the other face, and said backing being arranged'to lie against said transverse face with one endportionseated in said groove, and having a tongue extending into said recess in the facing, the other edge portion of the plate being thinner thanthe middle por- RAPHAEL A. DE ROME. 

